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twig

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twig¹

  • /twɪɡ/ US
  • [tʰw̥ɪɡ] US

Rhymes with -ɪɡ

Where it comes from

PIE word

*dwóh₁

Etymology tree

Proto-Germanic *twīgą

Proto-West Germanic *twīg

Old English twiġ

Middle English twig

English twig

From Middle English twig, twyg, twigge, twygge, from Old English twigg, twicg, from Proto-West Germanic *twiggu (“small twig, shoot”), apparently a diminutive of Proto-West Germanic *twig (“branch, twig”) (whence also Old English twiġ and twiġa), from Proto-Germanic *twīgą, from Proto-Indo-European *dwigʰom, from *dwóh₁. More at two.

Cognates

Cognate with North Frisian twiich, twiig (“twig”), Saterland Frisian Twiech (“branch, twig”), West Frisian twiich (“twig”), Dutch twijg (“twig”), German Zweig (“branch, twig; section”), German Low German Twieg (“branch, twig”), Luxembourgish Zwäig (“twig”), Yiddish צווײַג (tsvayg, “branch”); also Old Church Slavonic двигъ (dvigŭ, “branch”), Albanian degë (“branch”).

noun twigs

  1. A small thin branch of a tree or bush. They used twigs and leaves as a base to start the fire.
  2. slang Somebody, or one of their body parts, not looking developed. You need to find a source of motivation and play off of that. Whether it be the jock in high school that always called you fat, or the guy who picked on you and called you a twig.

Similar: tillow

verb twigs · twigging · twigged

  1. transitive To beat with twigs.

twig²

Where it comes from

Possibly from Irish and Scottish Gaelic tuig (“to understand”).

verb twigs · twigging · twigged

  1. colloquial, regional To realise something; to catch on; to recognize someone or something. He hasn't twigged that we're planning a surprise party for him.
  2. intransitive To be realized and understood; to click. Dries had told us to bring at least twenty litres of water because there was no water in camp and very few tourists stayed there. I knew I wouldn't get a shower for three days, but I wasn't worried about that. It hadn't twigged that the reason we needed to bring our own water was that the camp itsel
  3. To understand the meaning of (a person); to comprehend. Do you twig me?
  4. To observe slyly; also, to perceive; to discover. Now twig him; now mind him: mark how he hawls his muscles about.

Similar: get it, notice

twig³

Where it comes from

Compare tweak.

verb twigs · twigging · twigged

  1. Scotland, obsolete To pull Frank shall twig your Nose from your Face
  2. To twitch
  3. To tweak

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